Fraud crackdown spurs drop in benefit seekers on border

SOME of the biggest drops in numbers seeking the dole last month were registered in the border counties, new figures show, possibly owing to a crackdown on welfare fraud.

It was speculated last night that the fall in numbers seeking welfare in the border counties could be because of the clampdown on fraudulent claims in recent months.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) yesterday revealed the decreases and increases in the numbers seeking unemployment benefit around the country in September.